Alabama police shot and killed a 'potential intruder' who was trying to enter an elementary school, officials say

• Alabama police shot and killed a man who was trying to enter an elementary school in Gadsden.
• Robert White, 32, was identified as the "potential intruder" who was killed, authorities said.

A man who was attempting to enter an Alabama elementary school was shot and killed by police on Thursday, authorities said.

The man was trying to enter Walnut Park Elementary School in Gadsden, prompting the school to go into a lockdown and call the school resource officer, Gadsden City Schools Superintendent Tony Reddick told ABC 33/40.

"As best I know, there was a potential intruder. A gentleman who was coming around to several doors trying to get into the building," Reddick told the outlet. "Our principal was alerted immediately and went around to make sure the doors were secure, which they already were."

The man was identified as 32-year-old Robert Tyler White by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, ABC 33/40 reported. As he was trying to break into the school, 34 children were inside participating in a summer literacy program, The Associated Press reported.

The resource officer confronted White, at which point White tried to break into a police car near the school, the ALEA said in a statement, per the AP. Other officers from the Gadsden Police Department also responded to the scene, per the AP.

White was shot to death after "resisting and trying to take the resource officer's gun," the AP reported, citing the ALEA statement. It remains unclear whether White was armed himself.

Robert White's younger brother, Justin, told CBS 42 that his brother seemed "off" when the two saw each other a week before Robert's death. Justin said Robert, originally from North Carolina, grew up in Gadsden and attended Walnut Park Elementary.

"He's got some serious mental issues," Justin said, noting that Robert had depression and suicidal thoughts. "He was just a messed up individual. He had problems. But he wouldn't hurt no kids."

Justin said his brother "wasn't some psycho trying to hurt kids," but he does think Robert was attempting "suicide by cop."

"I think he was trying to get himself killed," Justin told CBS 42. "But he wouldn't ever hurt nobody else."

Justin added: "He was just a sick person, and he was at the wrong place."